Afro-Belgians
Country · Belgium
Matongé in Brussels, named after a quarter of Kinshasa, is the centre of Congolese life in Europe.
Afro-Belgians at a glance
- Country
- Belgium
- Main centres
- Brussels — Matongé · Antwerp · Liège
- Region
- Western Europe
- How many
- No official figure; largely Congolese, Rwandan and Burundian
- Languages
- French · Dutch · Lingala · Kinyarwanda
- Dialling code
- +32
The African connection
Leopold II held the Congo as personal property and the death toll ran into millions. Belgium has begun, slowly, to confront it — the Africa Museum at Tervuren was rebuilt for it, and a parliamentary commission examined the colonial record.
Key dates for Afro-Belgians
The dates this community marks — independence, emancipation, and the festivals that fill a hall wherever its people have settled.
Diaspora meets diaspora
AfricAsia began with Africans in Asia. The same story runs through every entry in this section — people of African descent building a life a long way from where their ancestors started.
If you are from Afro-Belgians and you are anywhere in Asia — studying, working, playing, passing through — there are people here who will know what you are asking before you finish the question.
Every Asian country →The Afro-Belgians channel
Every entry in the diaspora section has its own free channel in the Hub, alongside the 108 country channels and the topic rooms.
Open the channel →